What a busy week. Not only have I been working on getting ready for summer orphan hosting, but also have been hosting a small short term missions team from my home church. They have come to serve with my church – James River Assembly – Love417 – and their relief work in Joplin, our nearby town that was recently devastated by an F5 tornado.

I have seen the destruction firsthand, it’s unlike anything I ever could have imagined. Trees stripped of their every leaf, branch, and bark. Winds so strong that it stripped upholstery from inside vehicles, ripped muscle tissue from arms grasping on for life, and stole children from their mothers’ embrace. 8,000+ families lost their homes.

These houses, apartments, and mobile homes did not just have a few broken windows, they were flattened. These people have no where to call home. Our team couldn’t constantly help but wonder where all these people have gone in the wake of this shocking natural disaster.

Now, you ask, what could this have to do with orphan care? It says a lot to me.The song “Where Would You Go” by The Mark Chapman Band emotionally paints that picture of these victims’ utter homelessness & desperation. It occurred to me, this is exactly what millions of orphans around the world face. None of these children have a place to call a forever home. Where could they go? Who can they count on when they don’t have a family that makes a house a home?

“Where Would You Go (If You Couldn’t Go Home)? ” by The Mark Chapman Band

Where would you go if you couldn’t go home? What would you do if everything you ever knew was gone? I can’t imagine what that’s like I pray I’ll never have to know Where would you go if you couldn’t go home?